HOW TO: Arm a Press Release with Magic Magnets

A snappy, eye-catching headline used to be the most critical part of a press release back in the day when a press release was—shockingly—actually a release to the press. Now that the Web has allowed people to read press releases directly, even the cleverest headline is useless on a news release that doesn’t generate traffic.

In today’s Web 2.0 world, the most important thing your press release and its headline needs is keywords. Keywords are what Publicity Expert Joan Stewart calls the “magic magnets” that pull readers and journalists to your press releases. They are like magnets because they “flag” the search engines and pull in the right kinds of traffic.

Let’s say you are writing a press release about Montessori pink towers. You need to know that “Montessori materials” and “Montessori school” are your search engine optimization (SEO) magic magnets because people are nearly ten times more likely to search for “Montessori materials” than “Montessori supplies” and eight times more likely to search for “Montessori school” than “Montessori preschool.”

Google’s keyword tool can help you identify the magic magnets you need for free. Without being too obvious, use them in your press release’s headline, photo names, and photo ALT tags and other meta data. When you’re done, you can use HubSpot’s Press Release Grader and SEO Workers Search Engine Optimization Analysis Tool, two more free online tools, to verify your press release is optimized for top rankings.

What do you think about press releases and SEO? Please let us know in the comments section below.

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